Rising of the Shield Hero- Forged Heroics
by MaxRenRez
Summary: An new type of hero has been summoned to the world of Melromarc that we all know and kind of love. However, the weapon he's been given is something that a hero REALLY shouldn't be using. Contains a lot of elements and some characters of Code Vein. Undergoing rewrite.
1. Chapter One (Rewritten)

**Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between!I present to you the new and improved _Forged Heroics!_ No joke, this kicked my ass something fierce while writing it, and I honestly wish I wrote it right the first time around. Considering that I blew through the first chapter in five Google Doc pages the first time around and now it's up to 17 pages of fully written out character development, we can start this story off the right way. **

Chapter One- Another Day, Another World… wait a minute.

"_Sasageyo! Sasageyo! Give your heart up fo-"_ Click. As his phone blared a cover of an anime song he'd known of, he pressed a button on his phone to shut off his ringtone and hit the green button to pick up the call.

"This is Syrus. How can I help you?" He answered almost automatically, as he'd done it a hundred times.

"_Yo! Max! Big news!"_ A very familiar voice could be heard from the other end of the line. "_Emerald Online is releasing its newest update today!"_

"Good evening to you too, Gideon. Still obsessed with that game?" Max shook his head, a small smile on his face. The one calling him was one of his closest friends, Gideon Nikos.

"_Can you blame me? It's fun! I've never played anything like it before."_

"You said that the last fourteen times you told me about it. I told you, I don't really like online games that much. Give me a computer and a copy of Ark, and I'm good to go." He paused in his walk, leaning against a light post. "MMOs are too complicated for me. I prefer the simple things."

"_Too simple. Even a baby could play Ark and get to the end within a week. Anyways…"_ He cleared his throat. "_Did you catch the latest episode of Murder International? Some dude got stabbed to death over in Japan by his girlfriends."_

"Girlfriends? As in more than one? What the hell did he _think_ was gonna happen, if that was the case?" Before Gideon could answer, Max cut him off. "Don't answer that. It's really not something I want to think about. Having a hard enough time finding a girlfriend as is without the fear of them stabbing me."

"_You could always date Risa. I'd be cool with it."_

"I'm not dating someone that's basically like a sister to me, G. That's not happening. Anyways, cut down on the true crime stories, yeah? And the video games, while you're at it. I'm gonna be at Seppari for a little while, so I'll have my phone off."

"_Again? How often do you eat at that place?"_

"The anniversary is today, G. I gotta visit. Anyways, catch you later, bro."

"_Later."_ Click.

Now, back to the story.

The one who now tucked his phone into his pocket readjusted his coat to block out the freezing wind. His name is Max Syrus, a 21 year old law student studying psychology as a secondary major. Currently dressed in a winter coat to block out the frigid air with a long scarf wrapped around his neck and a backpack on his shoulders, he carried a long raincoat with treated leather over his right arm in case it started to rain. Here in Cedar Springs, NC, the residents always joked to newcomers that the weather here was bipolar enough to make you experience all four seasons in a week. It wasn't very easy to deal with, since this specific bout of bipolar weather had both flooded and frozen the streets in the last three days.

The place he was headed to today was a nice little Hibachi place that he always visited with his dad back in the day. It was a little expensive, but if you had the money, you were guaranteed to leave both happy and full. It was one of those places where they cooked the food right in front of you on a flat top grill thing, where the chef would sometimes do fun tricks with the food he was cooking. He always enjoyed interacting with them, since they were fun to talk to no matter who he got for a chef.

Stepping into his favorite restaurant, Max greeted the young lady at the front desk.

"Evening, Jessica. Business going as usual?"

"Yes, sir. We're still getting a fairly large amount of customers." She gave a smile in return. "Your usual seat is ready, sir." Her arm was held out, pointing to a seat over on the other side of the dining area.

"Thanks, Jessica. It was good to see you again." With that, he decided to sit down at his normal seat, waiting for his favorite chef. The two always shared a fun conversation, so he always looked forward to talking with him.

However, despite Jessica saying that there were a large amount of people here, barely anyone was within view. No customers waiting for food, no chefs doing any cooking, not even a waitress taking orders. The only person here was a dead eyed janitor sweeping the same spot in the middle of the floor, his gaze glassed over.

"It's oddly empty here… I wonder why?" He thought out loud for a moment, not sure what to think of this whole scenario. It was slightly concerning, since this place was usually bustling with life at every other time except first thing in the morning. The fact that it was this quiet was unnerving. Disregarding the situation for the time being (though he kept it in the back of his mind), he opened up his phone. He had a lot of e-books saved to his phone for a moment where he wouldn't have anything to do, so he scrolled through to find one of the light novels he'd been working on.

His finger paused in the middle of the screen when he found two titles he did not recognize.

"'_The Records of the Four Holy Weapons?'_ When did I buy this one? And this other one, '_The Legend of the Vassal Weapons?_" Neither of these he remembered buying, and he had a great memory when it came to these sorts of things. While it did pique his interest, he was more interested in finding out why they were on his phone in the first place. Against his better judgement, he shook his head and pressed the first title.

There was no synopsis inside, much to his dismay. The book ended up telling of legends involving the group known as the Legendary Heroes, who wielded one of four weapons. A sword, a spear, a bow, and a shield. _Is that last one even considered a weapon? Must be if there is a hero based entirely around it. Then again, Destiny and Dark Souls had some pretty damn impressive shield type things in them, so they must be good, right?_ This specific novel had an interesting premise behind it, as the four main heroes shared a role as the lead protagonist rather than focusing on one person.

The first of the group that he read about was the Sword Hero. The Sword would select the person amongst candidates based on whoever fit the bill, which in this case, was a person who wanted to get stronger above all else. He was a warrior first and foremost, one that would always strive to be the strongest around no matter what. You know, standard protagonist material.

The second was the Spear Hero, who held the Holy Spear, as the name suggests. The spear was the most pure-hearted out of the bunch, often seen as the one most loyal to his friends. _That's gonna get him killed. I'm calling it now._ Based on the legends, he was one of the most popular out of the bunch because of this. Whether or not this was true, he had no idea.

The Bow Hero was always the one most focused on justice, as that was what the Bow itself would select from those that were more oriented towards the same ideals as itself. _Bleh. Never been a fan of the bow and arrow, and I never really liked the story of Robin Hood all that much. _He had a feeling that the Bow Hero would be the type to pursue his own justice, probably making a vigilante out of himself.

Finally, the Shield Hero. The Shield would always select one with the mentality of the protector, always wanting to protect others above all else. Though this meant that the Shield Hero wouldn't be able to attack, it meant that they would most likely be able to cover the weaknesses of the other Heroes if they worked together.

For example, the Bow Hero would stay at the back of the formation, hitting the enemies from a distance. The Spear Hero would cover the Bow or take the middle part of the formation, as the Spear would allow for decent range against his enemies. The Sword Hero would take the front of the formation, being the fastest of the group, and strike the enemies ahead with a decent amount of damage and draw attention towards himself or take out any enemies who got too close to the Spear's blind spots. Last but not least, the Shield Hero could serve as a distraction with the Sword Hero, keep the Spear safe from damage to the sides, or protect the Bow Hero as he would do damage from a distance. The possibilities were endless.

There was a lot more involved with the story, including something about a traitorous princess, but he didn't really care too much, as it started to get boring at this point. So, he backed out of the story and went to the other one, not noticing that the janitor in the corner had disappeared.

The Vassal Heroes were more often than not local heroes chosen to wield the weapons themselves. Very rarely would they summon a hero to wield them, but it was not entirely impossible. The weapons here were the Staff, Hammer, Axe, Whip, Gauntlets, Projectile, Claw, and Carriage. Each user had an archetype that the weapon desired, though it warned that some had a tendency to let their power go to their heads.

He was in the middle of reading into the Carriage, since that one interested him, when he received a phone call from a number he did not recognize. Though it seemed suspicious, he answered it anyway.

"This is Syrus. How can I help you?" He asked, receiving an answer pretty quickly.

"_Who I am is not important. I must ask, now that you have finished reading… what do you think of heroes?"_ The fact that the voice on the phone knew what he'd just been doing chilled him, but he didn't let it show in his voice.

"What do I think of heroes?" He responded, scratching his chin. "Well, I gotta say… It's gotta be a hell of a lot more interesting than law school, that's for sure. They each fight for something they want to protect. I can respect that."

"_If that is the case…"_ The voice waited for a good thirty seconds before saying anything. "_Would you like to become one?"_

That caught him off guard something fierce. Becoming a hero? Even for a prank call, this was a brave move. Knowing what he had been doing was one thing, but this was starting to get weird. Someone as plain as Max was couldn't be a hero, could he? He's just a law student!

"Sorry, not interested in anything you're selling. I don't really plan on becoming a hero any time soon, especially because I've got a project in my psychology course coming up that I need to finish."

"_Irrelevant. You have the makings of a hero, Maxwell Xander Syrus. I intend to make you one, whether you wish to believe it or not. After all… the precursors have chosen you, rather than anyone else. That is all the proof I need."_ He pulled his phone from his ear, staring down at it with a shocked expression. How the hell did this guy know his name?!

"Don't call this number again." He quickly killed the call, setting his phone down as the entire device began to vibrate violently. The screen glowed a blinding white and flashed at a seizure inducing pace, giving Max an immediate headache as the room started spinning. Several voices could be heard as he began falling to the floor.

_About time. I was starting to get bored._

_Too. Many. Words! There's nothing going on in here other than words!_

_Oh, shut it.. I was fine with the dull life. It meant I could relax. _

_Quiet, you three. He may hear us. It is not yet time for us to reveal ourselves._

_It will not be much longer until then, ******. Let us hope he will be prepared in time to do so._

When the voices stopped, Max found himself in freefall.

* * *

"What the- OW!" He shouted, his body colliding with a floor that was oddly rough. A regal carpet was just beneath his face as stars danced within his field of vision. He didn't really want to move, considering his entire body felt like someone basically put their hand in him and turned him inside out like a sock. However, a voice caused his ears to perk up, his head snapping upward to observe his surroundings.

"Wait… there are only supposed to be four of them. Where did he come from?"

"Could the summoning have gone awry?"

The moment his head managed to catch the sights around them, his eyes boggled. The darkened room was filled with people in robes, which stood out right away. Beneath him was what he could only assume was some kind of occult circle, which was currently glowing. Just behind him, four young men that likely ranged from their teens to their early 20s. Each of them was holding-

"What the hell?!"

They held a sword, a spear, a bow, and a shield. As he raised his hands to look at them, there was a glaring difference when it came to his body. Namely, a circular gem in the back of his hand that glowed a gentle silver, about an inch and a half in diameter. In a panic, he began scratching at it with a slight amount of worry, causing red scratch marks around it but doing nothing to the gem itself. The only purpose it served was making his hand sting and reminding him that he needed to trim his nails.

"Oh, brave heroes! Please save our world from the Waves of Catastrophe!" One of the robed people spoke.

"I don't think so." After a bout of momentary confusion, the Sword Hero spoke.

"Yeah, me neither." The Bow Hero was the next to speak.

"Hold up, what the hell is happening here?" Max exclaimed, now noticing the piece of cloth on his right shoulder that looked a bit like a tattered cape. "How did I go from a restaurant to some dark dungeon looking thing? And who the hell are you guys?!" He was slowly panicking, not having been expecting any of this and not having been mentally prepared for it.

"Calm down, would ya? It's not like you're the only one that just got yanked into another world." Spoke the blond one with the spear. "By the way, we can go back to our world, right? We'll talk about your problems after that." As the Shield Hero looked on at the other three in annoyance, the Sword Hero pointed his weapon at the robed men, his voice very near the point of shouting.

"Don't you feel any guilt for calling people into your world without their permission?"

"Even if we save you and bring peace to your world, you'll just send us home, right?" As the next gently plucked the string of his bow, he glared at the men in front of them. "That just sounds like a job to me."

"I wonder, did you even consider our opinion in this? Makes me wonder if it'd even be worth our while." The Spear Hero bounced his spear off of his shoulder a little. "Depending how this conversation goes, keep in mind that we might end up as enemies of your world."

"You know that you guys are acting a little bit selfish, right?" Max muttered, not really caring for a response. He systematically cracked his knuckles, doing so segment by segment before moving his hand to his neck to do the same. This drew some attention for a brief moment, causing slight concern. Even more so when he stood up to stretch, hearing the majority of his joints crack in protest. "Oh, well. Might as well see what we need to do, right? No turning back now." His left hand gripped his right wrist as he pressed them both into his own back, hearing his spine crack and feeling it loosen up. "You guys have a boss that we can talk to? That'd probably be the best option when it comes to finding out about this stuff."

"Of course, sir. Just through here." As the robed men pointed at the door beside them, one began to lead the five of them to the throne room.

In a stairwell that they found just before the entrance, they could see out the window of the castle, which showed a beautiful scenic landscape unlike anything Max had ever seen.

"Whoa… It's beautiful." Max's breath caught in his throat.

"It's like something out of a travel brochure." The Shield Hero spoke, looking out with him.

"Based on the wind, it's likely we're in some kind of place with a Mediterranean climate." This was the Bow Hero.

"What? Have you never been outside Japan before?" The Spear Hero asked, a small laugh coming afterwards.

"Actually, yes. I've never been to Japan. I come from America. North Carolina, to be exact." Max clarified, earning a raised eyebrow from the other four.

"You're American?" The Bow asked.

"Born and raised, brother." He put on a mock southern accent, smiling a little. "Anyways, let's get this over with. My head is killing me from that fall."

As the five of them entered the throne room behind the robed figure, viewing the fancy architecture and nobles that had taken positions in the room. When they entered the room, Max took a small notebook from his pocket as well as a small pen, mainly to write any notes down and commit to memory later.

"Welcome, Heroes, to the kingdom of Melromarc. I am King Aultcray Melromarc, the XXXII. I am the ruler of these lands." A man with grayed hair, regal robes and a gold crown sat at the very back of the room, sizing up the heroes that entered. His gaze seemed to linger on the one with the shield, then on Max. The latter had a hint of curiosity, while the former was laced with hidden disgust. "Please introduce yourselves, Heroes. It is important that we know the names of our saviors, after all."

"Ren Amaki, 16 years old. High school student." This was the one with the sword. His general appearance reminded Max of the standard anime protagonist archetype that you'd see all the time. _It wouldn't surprise me if he decided to do a mostly solo run._

"I suppose I'm next. Itsuki Kawasumi, 17 years old and also in high school. Nice to meet you." That was the one with the bow. This character reminded Max of a band player, like in an orchestra. He wasn't sure what it was about Itsuki, but he looked a lot like the type to either play the violin or the piano.

"Motoyasu Kitamura. 21, second year university student." Motoyasu gently tapped his fingers on the spear that he rested on his shoulder. He wasn't sure from where, but Max felt like his type of character was one that would be rather popular with women for some reason or another. _G would have a field day talking to this dude. _Before the one with the shield could introduce himself, the king moved on with what he had planned to say.

"Motoyasu, Itsuki, and Ren, was it?" He completely glossed over the Shield Hero, a fact which Max wrote down. After doing so, he spoke up.

"Excuse me, sir? You forgot about us." Based on the look in the king's eye when he said this, he had struck a nerve.

"Ah, yes… forgive me. Shield Hero, what is your name?"

"Naofumi Iwatani. 20 years old and university student." Naofumi shot a thankful glance in Max's direction, then looked back to the front of the room.

"And you… Who are you? Why are you with the Heroes?" This question was directed towards Max.

"Max Syrus, 21, studying law and psychology. As for why I'm here?" He made an attempt to dissolve some of the tension by raising his arms out to his side and giving a goofy smile. "I have no idea! I got a random phone call, and suddenly I'm on my ass in some room that I've never seen before!" A slight snort came from somewhere in the room.

"Very well, then. The four of you have been summoned to defend our world from the Waves of Catastrophe." In a nutshell, a little while before the Heroes had been summoned, Melromarc had been hit by a massive wave of devastation that wrecked several villages. This wave opened up fissures in the sky, which released monsters that hunted and killed whoever they came across. Although, now that he was looking at his notebook and reviewing everything, a lot of things didn't add up.

If these fissures opened up to release monsters, it meant they would have to come from somewhere. If the fissures created these monsters within, they'd probably have never survived, given that the total amount of monsters inside a closed fissure could easily end up in the millions. If millions of monsters surged upon a land, no matter how many technological advances they make, they'd be very easily overrun. Unless you have something on the level of an atomic bomb, there's no way to wipe out monsters by the millions.

Then again, he was summoned to this world by magic, so it might have a bit of an edge compared to what was in his world. Sighing slightly, he put his notebook away and looked back at the king. The advisor beside him had been staring at Max with a bit of curiosity, which highly unnerved him.

"Now, heroes. It is time for you to check your statuses." This was the king.

""""Status?"""" This was said in unison by pretty much everybody other than Ren, who sighed as if he couldn't be bothered to explain it to them.

"Come on. Does it really have to be explained? That icon in the corner of your vision? Focus on it." Based on the reactions of the other heroes, they seemed to find it fairly easily. However, Max couldn't find the icon at all.

"Um…. I don't have one."

"What do you mean, you don't have one?" Ren asked, looking over at Max with that annoyed expression remaining. "It's right there. Bottom right of your vision."

"It's not there. I could stare at it all day and nothing will appear."

_It is unique. Look into the gem on your right hand. It will appear once you do so._

This was an unfamiliar voice. He couldn't seem to find the person who said it, but when he made an attempt to look, he found something interesting. From the middle of the gem, a bright glow could be seen. What appeared to be metallic black ribbons wrapped around his hand, then wove themselves together to reveal something like a game screen.

**[Name: Max Syrus]**

**[Legacy Hero / Veil Hero / Lawyer / Psychoanalyst]**

**[Level 1]**

**[Health: 95/100]**

**[Mana Points: 100/100]**

**[Skill Points: 100/100]**

**[Regeneration Charges: 3/3]**

**[Stored Blood: 0/20 liters]**

More text could be seen, including equipment that he'd been wearing and anything on him at this given moment.

**[Status] | [Weapon Book] | [Magic] | [Skills] | [Party] | [Contract] | [Help]**

**[Standard Ogre Veil]**

**[Otherworldly Clothes, Backpack, Small Notebook]**

"Ok, I'll bite. What the hell is that thing?" Itsuki asked, looking at Max's arm. Motoyasu and Ren were doing the same while Naofumi remained fixated on his own menu.

"I dunno. Someone told me to look into the gem, so I did." Max shrugged.

"Someone… told you?" Motoyasu tilted his head, slight confusion in his tone.

"Yeah. Didn't you guys hear that voice?" He took their silence/concerned expressions as a no. "Huh… Anyways, it says I'm the… Veil Hero? What the hell is a 'Legacy Hero?'" Aultcray seemed to pale upon hearing this, but said nothing on that matter. Instead, he cleared his throat, gathering their attention.

"What you see before you is Status Magic, an ability granted to everyone in this world. By eliminating monsters, you can level up and increase your abilities further."

"So, logically, it'd be best if we all partied up. Greatest chances of survival, after all." Max deduced, looking away from the gem in his hand. The wrappings returned to their dormant state.

"Unfortunately, that is not possible. The weapons prevent the heroes themselves from creating a party together." Something caught their attention, probably from their menus.

"That's a little problematic."

"Worry not, heroes. I have sent for adventurers who will be more than willing to join you in your quests. For now, the staff will show you to the dining hall. We are to have a feast to celebrate your successful summoning!"

"As long as I get all the hot ladies, I don't mind waiting." Motoyasu spun his spear in anticipation, almost nicking Naofumi with it. Max just shook his head when the maid came to get them.

_Well… this is certainly gonna be interesting._

* * *

After the feast, the five of them met up in Motoyasu's room to discuss matters further.

"Alright, so what do we know?" Max asked, taking out his notebook. "So far, we know that basically, the world around us is gonna be attacked by monsters from a massive fissure in the sky. Nobody knows where these things are coming from, but I'm sure that they're not just coming from the cracks themselves."

"What do you mean?" This was Itsuki.

"Well, think about it. Animals reproduce when stuck in an enclosure together. If monsters were stuck in some gap in time and space for who knows how long, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of enemies would be swarming the nation. Nobody would be able to fight that off. We wouldn't be here if that was the case, since they wouldn't have been able to summon us. Can't be summoned if your entire kingdom was razed to the ground. They said they had just barely been able to survive the first one, so-"

"Please don't start with the science talk." Ren spoke up. "This is a game, after all. It's just like _Brave Star Online._"

"What game is that? This is more like _Dimension Wave_, one of the biggest console games on the market." Itsuki turned to look at Ren, who furrowed his eyebrows.

"Who plays console games anymore? This is obviously _Emerald Online_." Motoyasu crossed his arms.

"Ok, everybody stop for a second." Max had to play peacekeeper before things got out of hand. "I have a theory. You guys are all from Japan, right?"

"Yeah?" The four of them gave him their undivided attention.

"Try this. Who's the prime minister where you guys are from?" All four spoke out at the same time, but none of them had the same answer.

"Masato Yuda."

"Gotaro Yawahara."

"Enichi Kodaka."

"Shigeno Ichifuji."

It was at that moment that the five of them realized that the main four heroes had been summoned from alternate versions of Japan. Similarly, everyone had a different way they were summoned to this world. Evidently, the Bow, Spear, and Sword Heroes had all died before coming here. Ren was stabbed by a man in an alley who happened to be a serial killer, and died as the police arrested the man. Itsuki was hit by a dump truck. The one that interested Max most of all, however, was that Motoyasu claimed he was stabbed by his girlfriends.

As in more than one.

"Wait, so that was _you,_ Motoyasu?" Max raised an eyebrow as the pieces fell together.

"Huh?" This surprised the spear wielder, who turned to the Veil with a questioning look.

"Just a little while before I got here, one of my friends called me and told me about something that he heard about on a true crime livestream called _Murder International_. Essentially, they get the story before it hits a lot of other news outlets, and they get the story out before others. He heard a story about how some guy in Japan got stabbed by his girlfriends while he was two timing them. The clue about _Emerald Online_ was the driving factor. He played that game all the time and wouldn't shut up about it."

"Wait, so does that mean-"

"Yes. It seems like I'm from Motoyasu's world. I didn't die to get here, but some weird e-books appeared on my phone and someone called me after I read over them. He asked me if I would like to be a hero and called me by name. Next thing I knew, I was in freefall." He shook his head. "This is _not_ what I wanted to be doing with my time… still, we're here now. We can't do anything but work together. We're in the same boat now. What about you, Naofumi? How'd you end up here?"

"Oh, me? Sorta like you, Max. I picked up a book in the library, and I blacked out in the process. Next thing I knew, I was here." For whatever reason their gaze now rested on Naofumi in an odd manner. "...What? You don't believe me?"

"Well… I sorta thought it was because you're the Shield Hero." Motoyasu said. He then directed his attention towards Ren and Itsuki. "It was the same in your worlds, right?"

"Yeah. In my game, it was like that." This was Ren.

"Same here." Itsuki nodded, lowering his head a little. Max was thoroughly confused.

"What's going on?" Naofumi asked, a little concerned.

"Let me give you a bit of advice…" Motoyasu leaned down towards Naofumi, holding his spear on his shoulder. "...In almost every game, the shielder class is for noobs! No high level classes play it at all!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Naofumi shouted in return, grabbing his own head.

"Imma stop you right there, chief." Max set down a drink he'd gotten from... somewhere. "Dunno how it worked in your games, but you're playing the game wrong if you think the shielder is useless. Something as simple as a shield or a set of armor can be damn near lethal if you use it right."

"What do you mean?" Naofumi had calmed down within a second, now sporting a bit of hope in his eyes.

"What games are you playing if the shielder class is actually useful?" Itsuki asked, being somewhat suspicious.

"Let's take a game that one of my friends played all the time. _Destiny. _It was a competitive game that gave shields a chance to shine whenever other games wouldn't. The Void Shield in that game would allow you to throw the shield, as well as giving you a second one, and basically allows you to shield bash people into oblivion. In _Dark Souls 3_, you had shields with attack stats. The Double Door Shield was my favorite to watch people mess with, since it was literally a set of doors that someone ripped out of a doorway, which could be used to trap and troll people. In that same game, you had a set of armor with spikes on it that you could use to dodge _into_ enemies and deal damage." He held his arms out to his sides. "But hey, I never fully played those games, so I don't really know."

A brief silence circulated throughout the room as everybody contemplated his words.

"Didn't know the shielder class could actually be useful." Itsuki finally said.

"Agreed. Not sure how much use you'll get from it here, but I guess it could be useful for taking some damage." Ren responded.

"Still, that does help with confidence. Thanks, Max." Naofumi gave a small smile, taking a seat on the couch. "Now I shouldn't have to worry much. As long as I can find a weapon to go with it, everything should be fine."

"Yeah. Anyways, I'm gonna retire for the night. Catch you guys in the morning!" Max headed back to his room after that.

* * *

When he got back, however, rather than going to sleep, Max decided to go through his help screen.

**[Status] | [Weapon Book] | [Magic] | [Skills] | [Party] | [Contract] | [Help]**

He selected the help option, showing a lot of different sections.

**[Status] | [Weapon Info] | [Magic Info] | [Skill Info] | [Party Info] | [Contract Info] | [Menu]**

The first thing he had to check on was the Status Screen. He needed to know what each thing was and what it meant, or he'd fall behind.

**[Name: Max Syrus]**_\- Duh. This is your name, genius._

**[Legacy Hero / Veil Hero / Lawyer / Psychoanalyst]**_\- These are the class based titles you have accumulated. They have to do with the natural abilities you possess. _

**[Level 1]**_\- How many levels you have obtained. _

**[Health: 99/100]**_\- Your current health. If it reaches 0, you're dead._

**[Mana Points: 100/100]**_\- How much mana you have. Use this to cast spells._

**[Skill Points: 100/100]**_\- This measures how many skills you can cast._

**[Regeneration Charges: 3/3]**_\- How many regeneration charges are available. These allow you to heal small wounds and fix broken body parts if something breaks them._

**[Stored Blood: 0/20 liters]**_\- This is the amount of blood that you have stored within the Veil. Make sure that you do not use abilities based on blood when the number is at 0, or there will be dire consequences._

"..." He didn't like the fact that the status menu was sassing him, but he disregarded that for the sake of his own sanity. Next was the Weapon Book. If his hunch was correct, that would show him what weapons he had on him at that moment.

**[Weapon Book]**

_The weapons that the Dark Veil unlocks will show up here. Introducing new materials to the Veil will most likely unlock something new. Weapons in this category fall under two types; __**Synthesized Weapons **__and_ _**Unlocked Weapons.**_ _**Synthesized Weapons**_ _are those that are copied from already existing Veils, which can be made by you or specifically made for you. __**Unlocked Weapons**_ _are those that form from absorbing monster material. Finally, every type of weapon has a configuration feature that will allow you to switch attack styles. However, those configurations must be unlocked by copying equipment that is unfamiliar to the Veil. Power Up methods can be used to make the various forms even stronger._

Max wrote this down in his notebook as he read it, making sure he at least had it down to commit it to memory. Below this section was a thing called a "Power Up Method," which he immediately focused on so he could use it when needed.

**[Power Up Methods]**

**[Core]- Weapon Maintenance- **_By introducing new materials to the Veil, such as monster material, armor components, and various metals/ores, the user can increase the Equipment Grade of any item that they use this method on. To do this, the user must introduce more of the same material as was used to unlock the Veil. When Equipment Grade is raised, the user can upgrade one aspect of the weapon. The user can also craft specific modifiers to add to the weapon, but once it has reached a certain point with each grade, it can no longer be upgraded. _

"Ok, then… you know, that reminds me of that one mod for Ark. The upgrading table, or whatever it was called." He looked at his hand again to stare down at his menu as something occurred to him. "Hold on a second. Copying Veils?" He looked down at the jacket he had been wearing, then at the various pieces of clothing that he'd been carrying. "Guess it doesn't hurt to try…"

He took off his winter jacket, his scarf, and took his raincoat from his backpack. With all four articles of clothing set out and ready, he picked up the winter jacket and focused. Immediately, he was met with a popup. Alongside it, a menu appeared with a new option. It was a list of weapons he could use.

**[Attention]**

**Unlocked Weapon- Standard Hound Veil**

**Equipment Grade- Primitive**

**Ability- Hound Configuration:** _Unlocks the Hound Configuration for the Veil. Short ranged, but somewhat versatile. _

"Interesting… So by copying Veils, I can get new abilities and new types of weapons! But the idea that they have to be made specifically as a Veil is annoying… Anyways, let's continue." He picked up the raincoat, this time not needing to concentrate as it pretty much did it right away.

**[Attention]**

**Unlocked Weapon- Standard Stinger Veil**

**Equipment Grade- Primitive**

**Ability- Stinger Configuration:** _Unlocks the Stinger configuration for the Veil. Longer ranged, but difficult to control without practice. Provides surprising maneuverability._

"That's helpful. Longer range is always a good option to have. I can hit things from a distance if I need to. Guess all that's left is the scarf and the bag." The scarf had been a gift from Risa for his birthday, since he had needed one for the weather. The bag had been a gift from Gideon, mainly for school. Still, he usually carried it in case he needed it. The scarf unlocked something as he held it, but he received a somewhat peculiar popup once he tried to copy the bag.

**[Attention]**

**Unlocked Weapon- Standard Ivy Veil**

**Equipment Grade- Primitive**

**Ability- Ivy Configuration:** _Unlocks the Ivy Configuration for the Veil. Long range, and can be triggered from a distance. Reach is limited, but can drain blood from enemies with relative ease due to the method of attack. _

**Prerequisites not met. Cannot unlock weapon. **

**Reason:** _Level requirement- 15._

"...that's unfortunate." Regardless, he put his hand on the various pieces of clothing that he'd picked up, the gem glowing a vibrant silver. In doing so, the items all vanished, depositing themselves into his Inventory, which was located directly beside the icon at the top for the Weapon Book. "Guess I gotta figure out how this thing works for the time being. Can't go adventuring without a proper weapon…"

_To activate the power of the Veil, you just have to imagine the desire to protect yourself. According to the weapon you have, it will manifest a certain feature upon your body that will react accordingly. Similarly, you can think of the Veil you want to use, and it'll appear on your person._

There was that voice again. Wait, scratch that. The one before had the tone of a professor. This one had a more adolescent tone, like that of a teenager. While the one before had a voice in the lower baritone range, the other one had a voice that appeared to be a lower tenor. Were the voices coming from this weapon?

"Never mind that! My brain is gonna start hurting if I try to figure this out. Now, let's see…" He held up his hand with the silver gem, cracking the knuckles on it. "**Standard Stinger Veil.**" The piece of tattered cloth on his shoulder vanished, forming into the raincoat that he'd been carrying. "Nice… now then, desire to protect myself? How does that work, exactly?"

As if on cue, something slammed into the window. His entire muscular system tensed, and he heard the sound of unsheathing metal while feeling something wrap around the lower half of his face. His head snapped around, taking an odd stance as he stared at the window.

"..!" Whatever it was that had hit the window completely escaped his attention as he saw his reflection in the glass with his jaw dropped to the bottom of a metallic mask.

On the lower half of his face, a mask had formed from black metallic ribbons that had covered his mouth and nose.

What had emerged from his backside was a massive metal scorpion tail, which pulsed red with his heartbeat.


	2. Chapter Two (Rewritten)

**Here we go again!  
**

**This has taken SO much longer than I anticipated, but I think the end result is finally something I can be proud of. The first run of the second chapter was a steaming pile of shit, so this one was a nice change of pace. **

**With that being said, let's get right into it, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter Two- The Plot Thickens

The next morning, as sunlight crept in through the window, Max stretched and greeted the day with a healthy dose of bedhead and back cracking.

"Ah… that was fantastic. These beds are ridiculously comfortable." He patted the bedspread, a small smile on his face as he did so. He didn't realize initially, but he had fallen asleep while writing down and going over everything that was in his menu. The gem in his hand was flashing, as if it was reacting to something. Underneath his hand was his notebook, which was currently on the page involving skill mastery. The last thing he had written had to do with keeping the Veil equipped long enough to use the associated skills with other Veils.

"Hmm? What the…?" While looking at the flashing light, he began going through his notebook to try and figure out what was going on. "Let's see… '_The Veil reacts to foreign materials, and feeding said materials to the Veil will unlock new weapon forms while using __**Synthesis.'**_" Based on how the Veil seemed to be reacting, he wondered if the notebook was able to be used. Biting the bullet, he placed his notebook on the gem.

In a display of lights, the gem flashed with a silver circle of magic, taking in the material provided and absorbing it page by page. Moments later, black metallic ribbons folded outwards with the gem at the very center of them, displaying text along said ribbons.

**[Attention]**

**Conditions Met- Scribe's Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Ramshackle  
_**Ability- Scribe's Library:** _Your memory has been upgraded in ways of remembering text. Any text you read will be stored in your memory and can be recalled with greater accuracy than most others. Recalling information too fast might cause a shortage in memory, so be careful._

"...that's convenient. I might need that later." After that, Max gathered up his things, placing them into the Veil for consumption. He wasn't sure if he would be going back to his world at any point, so he'd have to use everything he had. Looking into the gem provided the sight of a lot of new things, all of which were displayed on the metallic fabric that opened up from the center.

**[Attention]**

**[New Veils Unlocked]**

**Wanderer's Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Ramshackle  
_**Ability-** **Anonymity:** _The Veil possesses no natural ability to hide the identity of the wielder. However, by absorbing a storage pack from another world, it grants the wielder the ability to hide their identity from prying eyes. Not only does it add a traveler's pack to the user's back to store items within, but it also adds a hood, goggles, and a mask to hide the face of the wielder as well as gloves to conceal the core. The act of putting on this hood and mask falsifies information in the Status Menu, also preventing prying eyes from seeing your true skills and stats. Can only be used with the Wanderer's Veil.  
_**Magic Satchel:** _The core of the weapon, which is stored within your left hand, can easily be recognized by others, but is not easy to hide without reducing usability. When active, this skill uses any of the many bags strapped to your sides that are linked directly to your inventory to retrieve items from within it without drawing attention to yourself. Can only be used with the Wanderer's Veil.  
_**Cloak of the Traveler (Passive): **_Absorbing the materials of clothing that would let you resist the weather will allow you to withstand said weather without it. __**Thermal **__**Resistance (Medium)**_ _has been granted._

**Explorer's Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Apprentice  
_**Ability- Stationary Anchor:** _Utilize the reaching Ivy to anchor yourself into place. Vines will shoot from your back, locking into solid surfaces and rooting themselves in place.  
_**Grapnel: **_Launch a Stinger from your body like a grappling hook, pulling you to a location at high speed. _**  
Climbing Gear:** _Maintain the form of an additional Ogre Claw on any of your limbs to allow you to climb surfaces that most would view as impossible. Skill Points not required to use.  
_**Pioneer's Guidance (Passive):** _Makes Skills easier to master by 50%. However, once mastered, the amount is lowered to 25% for every Veil other than this one._

Reading over the abilities of the new Veils he'd obtained, Max went over the items in his inventory until he came across something he completely forgot about. A laptop he'd gotten for his psychology course, which was mainly meant for homework and notes. Alongside this was a pair of headphones that he usually kept folded and stored beside the laptop, just in case he had free time and wanted to listen to music. Also stored within were a few textbooks from his psychology and law classes.

In the Inventory tab, all were described as otherworldly items, such as **Otherworldly Device,** **Otherworldly Headgear,** and **Otherworldly Books.** He figured that being in an alternate world made the electronics useless, since he likely had somehow messed them up in the actual fall to the floor. If that didn't do the trick, then the summoning itself did. Excess energy can fry electronics, so he didn't want to think about what the magic circle did to the things. With that being said, he shrugged, removed them from his inventory, and held them up to the Veil's gem for absorption.

Immediately, he was met by even more text, which was displayed on a series of metallic ribbons that basically took up most of the area in front of him. He reminded himself to try to find a way to make viewing this thing easier. But for now, time to look at the new Veils.

**[Attention]**

**[New Veils Unlocked]**

**Analyst's Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Mastercraft  
_**Ability- Battle Plan:** _It can be hard to form a strategy in battle, especially when the battle is raging around you and making it hard to think. Developing a plan has become significantly easier when this is in effect, as you can think faster, plan more efficiently, and see the outcome of any three decisions that you come across. However, these three decisions are chosen at random based on the ideas you have come up with. What happens after these events is still entirely unknown, as this is based on probability of possible actions, and is by no means a form of precognition.  
_**Information Broadcast: **_When planning for events, one is forced to make decisions that some might not understand. To combat this issue, one may reveal to all around them any information that is gathered in a rather unorthodox way. A screen of magic opens in front of you, broadcasting what can be seen in your mind. Be warned, it will show everything you are thinking in that moment in very vivid detail.  
_**Visual Record:** _Your memory has been upgraded to remember nearly everything you are able to see. Record in vivid detail any visual things that you see, recalling it as if it were happening a second time. These events cannot be altered, no matter how hard you try to do so. Attempting to recall too much information will result in a memory shortage._

**Scout's Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Mastercraft  
_**Ability- Audio Enhancement:** _Raise your sense of hearing with this Veil, allowing you to gather information faster than most by listening from a greater distance. You can focus on individual conversations, but any sonic attacks or loud noises will damage your ears significantly.  
_**Audio Record: **_Your memory has been upgraded to remember nearly everything you have heard. Record in vivid detail anything that your hearing is able to detect, enhancing the recollection of this as well. Attempting to recall too much information will result in a memory shortage.  
_**BONK!: **_Whack your opponent upside the head with the flat of any part of the Veil. Does little damage, but heavily disorients the enemy and serves as a form of taunt.  
_**Speed Up (Passive):** _Passively increases your movement speed when worn. Current modifier is 75%._

**Psychoanalyst's Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Journeyman  
_**Ability- Sharp Eye (Passive): **_When viewing the behaviors of another person, one can detect the smallest of details. Their pulse, breathing, facial expressions, twitching, nervous tics… nothing escapes your eye.  
_**Profiler:** _As a Psychoanalyst, one needs to learn how to read people with utmost efficiency. Any habits that they display during this will be logged into a profile of sorts, able to be recalled at a whim. When given enough information, you will be able to build a psychological profile of the person that is precise enough to be able to tell everything about them that one might need to know._

"That's a lot to take in... Jeez. I'm gonna need to find a way to keep track of all of this." He gently scratched his scalp with his right hand as he peered into the gem in his left. Everything he had active at that moment shut down when a knock was heard at the door.

"Sir Hero?" A female voice spoke. "I'm here to bring you to the King. Are you decent?" Max believed the woman at the door to be one of the maids, so he switched out to the Standard Ivy Veil to make it less suspicious. Since it took the form of a long white scarf, he wrapped it around his neck a few times to make it look the part.

"Y-yeah! I'll be out in a sec!" Completely missing the stutter that he let out, he gathered everything from his room and packed it into either the Veil or his pockets. He then opened the door, revealing the person outside the door to be wearing a maid outfit with a very polite demeanor about her. "Sorry. Didn't mean to take so long."

"Not to worry. Please, come this way."

With that, Max followed the maid to meet up with the other Heroes, then to meet up with the King.

* * *

The throne room was just as regal in the morning sun as it had been in the evening light. Standing at the front of the room and staring at the gathering of Heroes was a large group of adventurers in different types of clothing, equipped with different types of armor, and all of whom were varying in professions and personalities. There were casters, warriors, rogues, tanks… all classes imaginable were available.

"Welcome, Heroes." The King greeted them as they entered. "I trust that you all had a proper night's rest?"

"Yeah… the bed was almost _too_ comfortable, you know? Haven't slept like that in a long time." Max held his hand against his neck, tilting his head to crack the various vertebrae within. Brushing off the uncomfortable silence that followed that action, the King cleared his throat and continued.

"As you can see, we have gathered adventurers from across the kingdom to assist you in your quests-" The King began, but Max's attention was drawn elsewhere. Namely, to a figure just barely hidden behind a pillar, one who appeared to be wearing a three piece suit. Odd, considering he wasn't sure if those existed in this time period.

"_Hmph… Half of these are nowhere even close to being considered warriors."_ The figure began speaking, the same professor-like tone from one of the voices he'd heard before. This was a different voice though, as this one was a little deeper. "_They are nothing more than nobles or children of such that took up arms for entertainment."_ Nobody around him appeared to see nor hear him, and the act of staring into the corner caught the attention of several.

"Psst! Max! Are you listening? We're about to get our party members!" Motoyasu whispered, but this did not go unnoticed.

"Veil Hero! Are you paying attention? What could be so important that you would ignore what I'm saying?" The King definitely didn't take too kindly to being ignored. Max's only response was to point in the direction of the pillar, looking back and forth between both it and the King.

"Wait, you can't-" He began, then shrugged. "Ah, never mind. Sorry, I get easily distracted. Thought I saw someone." This prompted some of the female adventurers to giggle slightly, a few male adventurers to scoff in annoyance, and the remaining parts of either gender to shake their heads dismissively.

"Now then, adventurers! Choose your hero!" Aultcray spoke, and following his words, the crowd of adventurers moved forward as a whole and walked to their preferred hero. Partially, Max had been hoping that he could get a mostly balanced party. The other part of him wanted to try out running a solo party to start off, mainly so he could get a feel for his powers. As his eyes traced the crowd, he noticed an icon in the upper left corner of his field of view. When he focused, a very familiar screen appeared before his eyes, which widened significantly at the display.

**[Status] | [Weapon Book] | [Magic] | [Skills] | [Party] | [Contract] | [Help]**

"Oh, wait… is this the Status Magic system? That makes things easier by a landslide." This comment had not been intentionally said out loud, but the act caused several to look at him, and caused several of the adventurers to facepalm. Ren glanced over at him with a deadpan look, his tone reflecting the same thing.

"Seriously? I told you where to find it when we got here."

"That's the thing. It was in the top left, not the bottom right. No idea why." The lack of movement in the room brought him to a realization. "Hol' up, why didn't any of you want to go with Naofumi?" Now that he was looking, everybody else except for the two of them had party members. Ren had four people, Itsuki had three, Motoyasu had four, but… for whatever reason, that left both Naofumi and Max with nobody.

"This is most intriguing... " The King spoke, stroking his beard. "It appears some rumors had been roaming throughout the castle. They say that the Heroes are usually well versed in how our world works when summoned, but that the Shield Hero was unfamiliar with the knowledge of our world. Regarding you, Veil Hero, I am uncertain. The Veil is an enigma in this kingdom, and not even I know much about it. Perhaps they prefer to observe you more before joining you."

"Ah, well. At least it gives me a chance to test out this weird thing." Max thumbed the edge of his scarf.

"As promised, the Heroes shall receive 600 silvers each to help purchase equipment. The Shield and Veil Heroes will receive 800 silvers to help them recruit new party members, with extra being included as their compensation for such a task." Maids handed the various heroes their respective coin purses, stepping away shortly after. Max deposited the bag in his inventory before looking back to the King. "Now, journey onward, brave heroes! Become strong so you may help protect our world!" As people began filing out of the room, a voice was heard from one of the members of Motoyasu's party.

"Excuse me, Sir Spear Hero?" This was from a redhead with green eyes. "Would you allow me to join the Shield Hero?" The question surprised everyone who initially heard it, leading to momentary confusion that circulated throughout the room.

"You sure?" Motoyasu asked, bouncing his spear on his shoulder.

"Yes!"

"Alright, then. Keep her safe, Naofumi." He nodded to the Shield Hero, who looked at his new party member with curious eyes.

"My name is Myne Sophia. It's a pleasure to be working with you, Sir Shield Hero." Max didn't catch the last of the conversation, as he headed out before he got the chance to hear it.

* * *

**New Location Discovered- Castle Town**

* * *

As Max stepped out into the streets from the castle gate, he couldn't help but marvel at the sights.

"Cabbages! Get your fresh cabbages here!"

"Fresh meat, straight from the farms!"

"Get your potato skewers here! Get 'em while they're hot!"

So many vendors, so many people. The city was absolutely brimming with life, causing Max to smile. He'd have to come back here. Best way to be a hero is to work well with the natives, and to build up a sense of trust with them. But for now, he had to go to the fields.

* * *

**New Location Discovered- Monster Fields**

* * *

It took a bit longer than expected to get to the fields (partially because he got distracted helping someone with groceries after getting entirely lost on the way), but eventually he managed to figure out where he was going. The other heroes had beaten him to the punch, already out and leveling up with their parties. Seeing this, Max picked the best available spot and ran off to go do some solo leveling for the time being, switching to the Explorer's Veil.

Finding the enemy was easy, since orange balloon-like monsters with teeth very quickly charged him and began the process of clamping their tiny jaws down onto his body. It didn't hurt (at least not that bad), but his eyes widened when he saw just how much they could whittle away at his health if given the chance in large numbers. His maximum was currently 100, but the seven that latched onto him had already chewed away 14 health in the three seconds they were on him.

Thinking fast, he whirled around on his heel and jumped back, a mask taking form over his face made from black ribbons. The scarf around his neck partially unwrapped itself, going from gray to black and separating itself into vine-like strands. His silver gaze switched to one of glowing crimson in time with black mist that formed in a swirling wind around him. The balloon monsters were hot on while he made his retreat, not wanting to give up their new chew toy before they had a chance to enjoy it.

This eagerness did not go unpunished.

The moment the monsters bounced into the radius of the mist, Max slammed his hand into the ground, the vines beneath him taking shape as massive blades that formed around him. These blades were all the same size as himself, some even larger, all wrapped in the black vines of the Ivy configuration. A series of rubbery pops took place upon the monsters hitting the blades, some jumping into them by accident and some just being outright impaled by them. Either way, his vision filled with the sight of experience from every balloon that was killed. Since five more had decided to join their friends, that very easily raised his current experience to ten and brought him to level two.

**+12 EXP  
Level Up!**

Checking his status, it revealed the following stats.

**[Name: Max Syrus]  
****[Legacy Hero / Veil Hero / Lawyer / Psychoanalyst]  
****[Level 2]  
****[Health: 86/115]  
****[Mana Points: 115/115]  
****[Skill Points: 115/115]  
****[Regeneration Charges: 3/3]  
****[Stored Blood: 0/21 liters]**

**Full stats:  
****ATK: 25  
****MAG: 20  
****P. DEF: 5  
****M. DEF: 5  
****STR: 10  
****AGI: 25**

"So every time I level up, my overall stats increase by about fifteen, at least for now." The blades withdrew, as did the Ivy while his scarf returned to normal. "That's good. I can plan for this. Probably." Taking a look at his Status Window, he viewed his various skills and decided to test some of them.

"Alright… let's try this! **Stationary Anchor!**" The second he spoke the name of the skill, several strands of Ivy shot from the scarf, anchoring his position to his spot without giving him much of a chance to move. "Crap…" Given that there were currently four more balloons en route to his location, that was a serious oversight.

"Crap…!" Max yanked and tugged on the vines without much success, so he tried the next best thing. "**Grapnel!**" When he called out the name of this skill, it unexpectedly forced the Veil to change to the one that looked like a long coat. The Stinger configuration, if he remembered correctly. Doing this caused the vines to snap all at once, also causing metallic ribbons to wrap around his right hand.

When the balloons were within range, his body reacted on it's own, ducking into a crouch and thrusting his hand forward into the nearest creature. The resulting pop that came from the Stinger tail that emerged from his palm that blew through a balloon, piercing another one that happened to be behind the first. Upon being retracted, he forced the real one to emerge from his backside as he'd done the night before, whipping it around and catching two yellow ones with the side of it.

**+14 EXP**

**Level Up!**

His intuition flared up mere seconds after the tail retracted itself, but before the weapon could pierce the target responsible, an arrow made of energy struck the rubbery menace and forced it to pop. Looking to the one responsible as the adrenaline started to fade, he noticed a smirking Itsuki standing on a nearby ridge.

"Looks like you got in a little bit over your head. Try not to get yourself killed on the second day, yeah?" Itsuki spoke, a slight bit of a condescending nature in his tone.

"Bite me, Robin Hood." Max spat, his mask and tail disappearing. "You try using the most complicated weapon in the book to fight all on your own." He turned away from the bowman, looking at the spoils of his battle. "Let's see… 28 orange balloon scraps, and 14 yellow balloon scraps. Not bad, but I think that I'll need to find a way to sell these." Upon taking them in hand, the core of the Veil began to glow.

"...Seriously? Balloon scraps work as a Veil?" He deposited them inside the Veil's core, receiving a popup on his HUD.

**[Attention]**

**[New Veils Unlocked]**

**Orange Balloon Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Primitive  
_**Ability- Blow of Madness:** _Double your ATK for a single strike._

**Yellow Balloon Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Primitive  
_**Ability- Adrenaline:** _Temporarily boosts ATK._

"...Huh. That seems useful. I guess I'll work on mastering those soon." The Veil he was equipped with would be far more useful in the long run. He decided on walking back to town for the time being, because if that first fight was any indication, it's probably best that he went to buy some armor.

* * *

**New Location Discovered- Erhard's Shop**

* * *

"Welcome! What can I do for you?"

The moment that Max entered the shop, he was greeted by a bald man with several scars on his head. He wore a blacksmith's apron, clothing useful for resisting the hot temperatures of his forge, and to top it all off, he wore a massive grin on his face that was seriously contagious.

"Evening. I'm looking for a few things. A weapon, maybe some armor." He motioned to the core in his hand as well as the jacket he was wearing. "Got chewed on by some balloons earlier."

"Oh… you're one of those heroes, eh?" That grin lessened, replaced with an inquisitive look. "Sorry, but uh…. I don't recognize that one. What is it?"

"Something called the Dark Veil. Honestly, I'm not even supposed to be here. I got yanked from my world, and I've just been rolling with the punches until now. Since I don't want everyone to refer to me as Veil Hero, just call me Max." He began taking a look at the various pieces of equipment, taking a sword in hand and testing the way it felt to swing. The moment he did so, a painful shock followed by a loud pop threw the sword from his hand, resulting in something that smelled distinctly of sulfur. "Ow! What the-"

**[Attention]**

**[You may not equip any weapon or armor other than the Veil.]**

"...ok, that's a load of bull. How the hell am I supposed to fight if I only have this thing? Sure, it does some damage, but it doesn't protect me in the slightest. Gonna end up dead at some point if I can't put on any armor." Max began a small tirade while the blacksmith watched his little rant, staring into the core of the Veil. "You trying to get me killed? Huh?" Another painful shock traveled through his hand from the core.

**[I'm the one thing keeping you alive. Don't try me, kid.]**

After reading that, Max paled slightly and looked rather shell shocked. Given the fact that the Veil just threw it's own little warning onto his HUD, it was understandable.

"You alright, kid? You look a little spooked." The blacksmith asked, tapping his fingers on the counter.

"Just, uh… It's nothing. Are there any extra ores or anything that you can spare? I'll pay you for whatever you've got." Max quickly diverted the topic, looking to the back of the shop. "I've got a budget of about 400 silvers, so I'll take what I can get." Erhard grinned again in response, jabbing a thumb behind him.

"What are you looking for? Raw or processed?"

"Anything you can give me." Erhard immediately went into the back, and Max could hear the clattering of metal as he went through his things. While he did, Max saw a popup on his HUD that he was somewhat happy about.

**[Attention]**

**[You have mastered the following Veils and Skills.]**

**Explorer's Veil- **_Mastered  
_**Stationary Anchor- **_Mastered  
_**Grapnel-** _Mastered  
_**Climbing Gear-** _Mastered  
_**Pioneer's Guidance-** _Mastered_

The timing couldn't have been more convenient. He could start mastering some other skills. A metallic thump hit the counter after a moment as a pile of mixed ingots and raw ores spilled out of Erhard's grasp.

"This is what I got. I'll give it to ya for 300 silvers." Upon inspection, there were several types of materials that he could use. Meteoric iron, shadow steel, certus quartz, hydrosteel ("_A metal from the sea,"_ one of the voices informed him), and something called a "Radiana Crystal," all of which had both raw and processed forms, other than the last of them.

"How about 200? 300 seems more suited for actual armor or weapons, and since I'm not buying either… well, you get the gist of it."

"No way. These materials are expensive. 315!" _Is his grin growing?_

"How about 230? That's a little more reasonable, right?" Max offered with a slight smirk on his face. This was more fun than he thought it'd be.

"290!"

"250."

"275 or no deal!" This was Erhard's final offer.

"Alright. 275 silver it is." Max passed the aforementioned money across the counter, then took the first items in hand. _Best to start with the raw stuff and work my way up._ He pressed the first of the ores to the Veil's core, causing the circle that took in the materials to spring to life, also causing his HUD to do the same.

**[Attention]**

**[New Veils Unlocked]**

**Meteoric Iron Ore Veil  
****Equipment Grade-** _Primitive  
_**Ability- Iron Will:** _Temporarily reduced damage taken by weaving a barrier into your blood._

**Shadow Steel Ore Veil  
****Equipment Grade-** _Primitive  
_**Ability- Shifting Hollow: **_Dash forward in mist form._

**Hydrosteel Ore Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Primitive  
_**Ability- Merciless Reaper:** _Ignores an enemy's defenses for the next attack. _

**Certus Quartz Ore Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Primitive  
_**Ability- Blood Shot:** _Fires a large projectile created from the power of blood._

**Meteoric Iron Veil  
****Equipment Grade- **_Apprentice  
_**Ability- Severing Abyss: **_Leap into the air and slam down with all your might. Current Limitation: Ogre/Stinger.  
_**Triple Annihilator:** _Unleash a devastating combo on a nearby target. Current limitation: Hounds_

**Shadow Steel Veil  
****Equipment Grade-** _Apprentice  
_**Ability- Phantom Assault: **_Vanish like mist, then do a circular jump slash. Current limitation: Ogre  
_**Shadow Assault:** _Perform a fast, short range charge that drains blood from an opponent. Current limitation: Ogre/Stinger_

**Hydrosteel Veil  
****Equipment Grade-** _Apprentice  
_**Ability- Dragon Lunge:** _Dash forward and make a powerful overhead attack. Performed with Hounds._

**Certus Quartz Veil  
****Equipment Grade-** _Apprentice  
_**Ability- Circulating Pulse:** _With the Ogre/Stinger, whirl around and perform five slashes in quick succession.  
_**Savage Dive: **_Launch an assault from midair and mow down the enemy. Performed with Ogre/Stinger._

**Radiana Crystal Veil  
****Locked until level 15.**

"Thanks for the gear, old man. I'll be sure to bring my party here whenever I get to hiring them." Max finally closed out the text on his screen and looked up at Erhard, who pulled his well earned silver into his hands and tucked the bag beneath the counter.

"No problem, Veil Kiddo. Come back anytime, and I'll get your party fitted with the latest gear."

Since he had already mastered the Explorer's Veil, he equipped the Wanderer's Veil for the time being in Stinger form and headed out of the shop, pulling his hood over his head and the mask over his face.

* * *

Upon stepping out of the shop, people seemed to stop paying him any mind. Other than the occasional glance from people he passed (likely because he was wearing a hood and mask), people didn't really seem to recognize him. _Seems like __**Anonymity**_ _works just fine. I think I've found my new favorite Veil. Nobody seems to recognize me, so I could do some interesting things with this._

This gave him an idea. He'd just recently mastered a few skills, so… why not put them to the test?

Ducking into a nearby alley, Max moved to where prying eyes were unable to see him, then cracked his knuckles beneath the gloves. He activated his **Climbing Gear** skill, manifesting a claw on each arm as he looked up at the wall he stood in front of. A test of the claw showed that it could easily stab into the masonry without resistance, so sticking all five fingers into it and gripping would allow him to climb.

"Hup!" He lifted himself up using his muscles, hearing his altered voice echo off of the walls. It took a few tries, as well as a moment to rest with the **Stationary Anchor,** but he finished the climb with a well placed **Grapnel** and landed on the roof.

If he thought the view in the daytime was breathtaking, the sight of the city during the night was twice that. The stars were more visible than he'd ever seen due to no light pollution. The streets weren't as filled with life as they had been earlier in the day, but now that they were clearer, he could appreciate the city for what it was. The few adventurers, the remaining merchants, the group of gua-

"...hold the phone. What's happening here?" His hidden eyes now narrowed at the sights below, which just so happened to be the sight of Naofumi being escorted to the main castle by a group of armed guards. That didn't make any sense. Wasn't he supposed to be one of their saviors or some crap like that?

Time to get a better look.

* * *

**No, I will not be rewriting the trial scene in the next chapter. I shit you not, if I tried that with what I learned from the "Who Shields the Shield Hero?" on SpaceBattles, it'd be well over seven chapters long. That's just the way it'd be, and I don't have the patience (read, sanity) to do it.**

**Either way, let me know what you think of the rewrite so far! **


	3. Chapter Three (Rewritten)

**Badda bing, badda boom, here's another chapter of our resident lawyer boi. This time we've got some exposition, some combat, and a bit of background as to what the Veil actually is.**

**For those of you that wanted an Io type character for Forged Heroics, stay tuned. You'll be seeing her soon.**

**Finally, to that one guy in my reviews that was kind enough to suggest a metric FUCKTON of characters (Seriously, that was like 30+ characters I had to consider), I appreciate the effort. However, I can't use any of them. I started reading the light novels, which is why I ended up rewriting to begin with, and according to the lore, 90% of the races that exist in the list wouldn't exist in Shield Hero. Which is sad, because you have a lot of good ideas. I homebrewed a few things myself, but I still tried to stay in the confines of the universe. Shield Hero is just one of those things that's really, REALLY hard to futz with, end even the Rock Drakes were pushing it in the last draft (Though I will be sticking to those. They were fun to write in lore for.)**

**With all that being said, let's get this show on the road, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter Three- Boy Meets...

* * *

The wind above the rooftops tore at Max's hood as he leaped about, using various implements of the Veil to traverse the overhead world.

When a jump was too far, he extended a Stinger tail to launch himself further. The tail had a habit of extending with the spearhead first, then pushing outward by making the chain. This leads to increased maneuverability, since using this can push him further than he can actually jump.

Only issue was that it seemed to make him more visible, even if he couldn't be recognized.

"Hey! You! Get down from there!" There came a voice from below, located in an alleyway. "Over here! We have someone on the rooftops!"

"Shit." Max cursed beneath the mask, redirecting his course. He'd have to move fast, since he didn't know how long he'd have before they decided to use whatever magic this world had to offer to try to catch him.

"_As source of thy power, I order thee! Decipher the laws of nature and slow my target! __**First Speed Down!**_"

His ears just barely managed to catch this right before everything around him sped up. _Damn! What the hell was that? My movements are slower?!_ He looked down at the people below him, grimacing in annoyance. Another incantation was cast, resulting in a shattered window and a woman screaming. That one he hadn't been able to hear.

"Get down here, damn it! You're not supposed to be up there!" One guard shouted, to which Max said nothing, only taking another turn to hopefully shake them off his tail.

_I gotta get down from here. If I duck into an alley, I can change out of this Veil and lose them._ Another **Grapnel** was launched from his wrist, stabbing into an adjacent rooftop and yanking him forward. This gave him a bit of space to move, but it also put him in the path of a few people he really didn't want to be associated with the second he hit the ground. Specifically, more guards.

"The hell?" One brandished a sword upon seeing him. "Who are you?! How'd you get up the- HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Max never waited around to hear the end of his question. By the time he was asking how he got on the roof, he'd already turned on his heel and started dashing in the other direction. The guards were quick to pursue, running at full speed after him. Due to the empty streets, not many people were in his way.

_Damn! If only I could change to the Scout's Veil, I could outrun them! But switching would show who I am… I can't risk that._ His only option was to outmaneuver them. He pivoted on his heel, running straight towards the wall to his left, then kicking off and dashing into the alleyway before they figured out what was going on. Using **Grapnel** once more, he attached the wrist grapple an overhang above him and pulled himself. **Stationary Anchor** kept him in place as the guards charged down the alley he had gone through, not once bothering to look up.

"This way! He couldn't have gone far!" This is when he switched out to the Scout's Veil in Ivy configuration, watching as they charged forward without a second thought. The crimson scarf dangled from his neck as he breathed a sigh of relief, raising one hand to his ear.

"**Audio Enhancement.**" His ears began picking up conversations from the buildings around him, very quickly being overwhelmed by the amounts of voices he was hearing. Including noises he found slightly disturbing, directly beside him in the building to the right.

"-on't your wife be angry?" This was a woman's voice, from what he could hear.

"She doesn't have to know. She's over in Mirso, doing business. We have the entire week to ourselves." This was a man, the voice playing over what sounded like the rustling of fabric. "Let's get to the fun, shall we?"

_Oh, ew! I did not want to hear this! Focus on something else, focus on something else! Get this infidelity crap away from my ears!_ Well, if nothing else, this skill would be pretty damn good if he ever decided to become a private investigator.

Shaking his head and resisting the urge to vomit, he made an attempt to focus on the guards that had just made their way down the alley, but could only focus on the heavy bootsteps that were left in their wake.

"Whew… I guess that I'm in the clear for now." The vines of the anchor he'd set up retracted as he grabbed the ledge of the building, pulling himself onto the roof again. This time, he had some speed on his side and had less of a chance of getting seen. He'd lost a lot of ground between following Naofumi and being chased by the guards, and he needed to catch up.

Knowing that, he ducked into a runner's crouch, then put that **Speed Up (Passive)** skill to use as he took off in a sprint.

He should've done that from the beginning, rather than waste time on worrying about not being recognized. With this, he was significantly faster than he was before, probably running at somewhere close to 13 mph. Humans tend to run at about 5 mph on average, so this was a huge increase. He was traversing the rooftops at more than twice his normal speed, though part of that was probably due to his AGI stat. It was one of his highest stats, after all.

Within about thirty minutes, Max had made his way across the rooftops of the kingdom and landed on the one closest to the castle. Tiny problem, though; this was still at least a hundred feet away, and he knew that even if he could jump the gap by building up enough momentum, someone would see him. This was out of range of **Grapnel**, and his Stinger wouldn't be able to reach that far.

_Damn… well, let's see if I can figure out what's happening from here._ He waited patiently for the timer on his HUD to tick down to zero, then used that skill once more. _**Audio Enhancement.**_ He held his hand to his ear as if holding a headset close, turning his fingers occasionally and pantomiming the turning of a dial to readjust his focus on another conversation.

"-dunno what they put in that sausage at the feast, but it hasn't been agreeing with me." A male voice spoke, and Max could distinctly hear the clinking of something small, metal, and plentiful in count. It must have been chain mail of some sort.

"Who knows? Maybe they ground up some cat that was lounging around the castle." The same clinking sound could be heard beneath the voice of another person, so these two had to be guards.

"Gross. Don't say weird things like tha-" That was about as far as that conversation got before Max turned his fingers to adjust his hearing, focusing elsewhere for the time being.

"-at about that new hero they summoned? The "vein hero," or whatever he was called?" This was a woman's voice.

"Oh, quiet Beatrice. And it's the Veil Hero, not Vein. Listen for once." This was another woman, berating the other for her inattentiveness. "Either way, he'll make for a good show. Something tells me that boy is going to be interesting to keep an eye on."

"Right… although, if it weren't for those eyes of his, he'd be just my type." She made a strange sound, which could've been a shudder of either unease or… well, he didn't want to think of the other possibilities. "I swear, it was like he was staring through me."

"I know, right? Any other color, they'd just look at you, but… Silver? Why did we have to draw a creepy one this time around? He makes me think of some sort of back alley serial killer."

"..." Max sweatdropped at hearing these statements, his face falling flat into a deadpanned glare at nothing in particular. "Okay, now that's just rude."

"_I know, right? A creep is one thing, but a serial killer? That's a little excessive."_ Max blinked for a moment, then took a look around, thinking someone was here with him. Seeing nobody, he shook his head and redirected his focus again.

"-aped the adventurer he was with."

"Seriously? Despicable. To think that a hero of all people would do such a thing…"

_Hello… What's going on here?_ He held his hand over his other ear to block out noises in it, then focused his attention on the conversation he was picking up.

"Knew the shield would be a rotten one the moment I laid eyes on him. Just saying the name makes me want to put my boot between his eyes. I hope that after they try him, they lop off that stupid little head of his. No rapist deserves to live, even a hero."

Max's mind screeched to a halt. _They're… talking about Naofumi? What do they mean by 'rapist?'_ He had never really felt anxiety before, but he was sure it was pretty close to this feeling. Consequences be damned, he had to figure out what was going on. Things were getting really damn confusing, and answers were needed, or he was gonna hit someone. Lowering his hands, he took a few steps back, ducked into a crouch, and sprinted at full speed towards the ledge.

Preemptively, he extended the Shadow Steel Ore Veil in Stinger form, using it like a pole vaulter would and moving himself as far as he could go. While rotating midair in a rapid spin, a use of **Shifting Hollow** got him half the distance while a single shot from **Grapnel **was enough to latch onto the outer part of the castle wall, the mist that was his form fully reappearing as he did so.

Like before, this did not go unnoticed.

"Holy-"

"What the hell was that?"

Just before the guards could see him, he ducked behind one of the battlements that had been used at the top of the castle walls, making sure not to be seen. A boy with long blonde hair and a weird weapon to boot would most certainly stand out amongst the others. So, he had to hide.

"...guess there's nothing there…"

"You idiot! Saying things like that is a good way to get you killed! Stay at your post. I'll go alert the captain."

"_Crap. Guess they're not as stupid as in the movies, huh?"_ Once more, a voice that he didn't recognize caused him to whirl around to see if he had been followed. The act of doing so caused him to realize that there was a guard directly where he had decided to land, staring directly at him and attempting to process what he'd just seen.

"..." Max gave him an awkward stare and retracted his weapon. "...I guess it's too late to say that I forgot my room key, isn't it?"

"..." The guard just tilted his helmet down over his eyes, as if pretending he didn't see him. "...I'm too old for this shit." He just continued grumbling in annoyance as he made his way down the path atop the wall, leaving a dumbfounded Max in his wake. He stood there for several minutes in sheer confusion before the frozen blob of chili that was his brain finally decided to thaw out.

"Huh… never underestimate laziness." He stood on the edge of the battlement now, taking a look around to see if he could find what he was looking for. "Let's see… where's the area we started in?" He switched out to the Wanderer's Veil once more, not putting on the hood or mask this time. He kicked off of the wall, drawing out his **Climbing Gear** skill and attaching himself to the wall with a claw.

Through the stained glass, he could see several people inside, including nobles, guards, and three of the heroes. The sun was just starting to come up, revealing the shield hero in nothing but his boxers and a t-shirt, surrounded by guards with a bright blue glow pushing them back as they attempted to grab him.

Long story short? Things didn't look good in the slightest.

Unheard words were spoken by the people inside, which Max could not understand due to his **Audio Enhancement** skill having timed out. But he could get the general gist of what was happening. Everyone seemed convinced that Naofumi had done something, and although he had a suspicion that he knew what he was being accused of (since the guards had been talking about it), Max still had a pretty damn hard time believing it. Seriously, how do you get yourself raped by a person with an overwhelmingly low attack stat?

Naofumi stormed out, throwing something at Motoyasu that glittered in the sunlight. As the gates slammed shut behind him, that adventurer that Naofumi had in his party latched onto Motoyasu with an expression that made Max knit his eyebrows.

_This is all kinds of wrong. I have to find Naofumi. If I want to hear the truth, I'll have to hear his side before anything else._

"_Hey! On your right!"_

The warning came seconds too late, Max giving a grunt of pain as he was blindsided and thrown from the wall. The force that did so wrapped around his leg, whipping him around midair and pulling him several feet away from where he initially was. More than just that, it dragged him down the alley outside the castle walls.

"What the hell is this thing?! Let go, damn it!" He manifested a claw on his right arm as his Veil turned to Ogre configuration, grabbing onto his leg to keep himself upright and hacking at the thick cord wrapped around his ankle. It wasn't anything like he'd seen before, since it looked like a rope made of flesh and bone. His claw wasn't doing anything to it, so he tried just straight up tearing at it in an attempt to get it off.

In his haste to free himself after being flung through the air like a rag doll, he slipped and sliced his hand open. The adrenaline was surging now, his panic turning to desperation as he clawed and tore at the rope to no avail. He finally stopped when the thing slammed him into a wall and let him drop to the floor.

"Urgh… well, that's not a roller coaster I want to ride a second time…" His head dropped to the stony floor as the adrenaline faded, giving way to a dull and throbbing headache. "I think that one had too many turns and twists." His vision went black, and with a quiet voice, he said, "Stop the world. I want to get off."

* * *

The night had returned by the time Max next opened his eyes. He blinked twice, then three times.

This was because an unfamiliar sensation was felt on the back of his head. Rather than hard and cold cobblestone, he could feel something warm and soft. Before he could figure out exactly what that was, a girl with white/silver hair, tanned skin, and golden eyes leaned over him with a gentle gaze, staring into his eyes. She appeared to be right around his age. The last thing he noted was that she wore a strange pendant and a black hood/scarf combination thing.

"Welcome back." She spoke in a voice that reflected the same gentle nature that her gaze represented. "How are you feeling?"

"Ai…" He sat up slowly, placing his hand on his neck and moving it only slightly. This sent a jolt of pain into his skull and down his spine, which soon silenced itself after he tilted his head to let his neck crack quietly. "Been better, I guess. My head feels like someone slammed it into a wall."

"Good. You're finally awake." This was a male voice, who held what looked like a military style rifle with a bayonet grafted to it. The man in question looked to be in his late twenties, sporting black hair and red eyes. Beside him was a man with brown hair and a small white streak through it, having an eye color similar to Max's but at a darker shade. The alley he was laying in appeared cordoned off, isolated from the public by a strange bonelike structure at the end of the alley.

Alongside the people in front of him, there appeared to be several more around them in hoods and masks.

"What the hell is going on here? Am I being mugged?" Max jumped to his feet, flexing his fingers and drawing out the Ogre variant on the Shadow Steel Ore Veil. "I won't hesitate to cut you to pi- HEY!" His voice cut out for a moment as something kicked his legs out from under him, being caught by the girl who had greeted him upon awakening.

"Would you calm down for a second? Jeez, you meet the people you're gonna be working with and your first instinct is to attack… either you have some killer instincts the likes of which I've never seen, or you're a bit trigger happy." This was the one with the gun, who thumbed the safety and chambered a round. Much like with Max and the Veil, he had a core in his hand, this one colored a deep blue.

"Wait, 'working with?' I don't even know who you people are!" His voice showed that he was growing quite agitated, but as the girl who had caught him ran a hand over his hair, as if stroking it, his mood began to calm to a dull throb. "Sorry, that came out a bit more aggressive than I planned for. What are your names?"

"We don't use names when we first meet each other. We go by callsigns." He shook his head and raised his rifle to rest on his shoulder. "Mine is Brujah. wielder of the Legacy Firearm." He pointed a thumb at his companion. "This is Tzimisce, wielder of the Legacy Trick Weapon. The girl who's got you is Toreador, Legacy Pendant holder." At the mention of her callsign, she turned her gaze to the one with the gun. "The one who knocked you down is Nos, Legacy Grieves. That one behind you with the book," Max only just now noticed him as he was pointed out. "...is Ministry, Legacy Tome Wielder."

Max couldn't see the fourth one he was talking about. Maybe that was just one of his skills?

"We're here so that we can get you up to speed on what's going on here. Nos had infiltrated the castle and gathered some intel, listening to what was happening." This was Tzimisce, who crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "The redheaded adventurer, Myne Sophia, had an idea to get closer to one of the heroes by accusing the shield hero of rape."

"Seriously?" Max deadpanned. "You knew this and _didn't_ bring it to anyone? Why not?"

"We have our reasons. But now that you know this, what do you want to do about it?" Brujah asked, stepping forward with his firearm at the ready. This confused Max, causing him to tilt his head at the question.

"What do I want to do? What do you mean?" Toreador's hand stopped stroking his hair.

"Every person who has a Legacy weapon has some reason for wanting to be stronger. They have some drive within them to why they wish to be a hero." Nos spoke, crouching down with his forearms resting on his knees. "What's your reason?"

"..." He didn't answer, as his reasoning for even having this weapon in the first place was because someone yanked him from his world and said he was hero material.

"You don't know, do you?" Brujah asked. "That's not good. That won't do at all. Tzimisce, do the thing."

"Right." The man cracked his knuckles and neck in a similar manner to Max, then flicked his hands upwards. "On your feet, Veil."

"Uh… what?" Before he could get a proper answer, Tzimisce reached out his hand… and kept reaching out as his entire arm extended in a mess of flesh and bone. The arm grabbed his shirt and lifted him into a standing position.

"I said on your feet! We're going to train. We need to get you into fighting shape." Tzimisce dragged his arm back as his flesh properly reformed. "Come at me. Summon your Veil."

"Fine, then! Don't blame me if you get hurt!" Max took a fighting stance, drawing his arm back and ducking into a half crouch. His Veil switched to the Shadow Steel Veil in Stinger configuration, drawing out the metallic tail within in a display of shifting metal. His mask formed over his face in response.

"That's the spirit." Tzimisce took a fighting stance, beckoning him forward with only a hand. "I'm ready for you."

As Max gave a roar and charged forward, the Legacy wielders backed up to give them both space.

His first attack was a whirling strike with the Stinger, attempting to catch Tzimisce off guard with the movement of the tail. This didn't go unanswered, being deflected easily with a simple bit of bone armor that emerged from his flesh.

"Try again. You don't know what you're doing."

"Grr…!" The Veil switched to Ogre configuration as he called out the name of a skill. "**Phantom Assault!**" His body dissolved into glowing mist, causing him to vanish before the eyes of those watching. When he reformed, he was in the air and delivering a whirling slash to his guard. The claw simply bounced off of said guard, much to Max's annoyance. He activated his **Climbing Gear** skill next, which caught Tzimisce by surprise slightly when the second claw threw his guard upwards. "**Shadow Assault!**" His next strike was one that actually did damage raking his claws across the chest of his opponent in a vantablack slash. A hint of blood could be seen spraying from the wound, which was collected by the Veil and deposited within the reserves of the core.

"Hmm… not bad." As Tzimisce held out his hand, a staff made from what looked like bone built itself out from his hand. He spun the weapon deftly within his hands, slamming it into the ground. "My turn." He dashed forward, blurring before Max's eyes before the staff of bone collided with his jaw and smashed against it with a sickening crunch of metal, bone, and tissue.

"AGH! HUN OF A HITCH!" He found himself unable to even swear properly with his jaw as it was, cradling it within the broken mask and hanging by bits of torn muscle. A popup appeared within his field of view.

**[Attention. You have received serious damage. Consider using a Regeneration Charge.]**

The weapon on his arm disappeared, as did the mask, forcing Max to hold his fractured jaw in place as he dodged the consecutive attacks from Tzimisce's staff. _How is he so strong?! He shattered my jaw in one hit!_ Seeing the prompt on his screen, he considered the option before pressing his left hand to his face. Holding his jaw together with one hand and holding the core against it with the other, warm light passed through his hands and face as the pain subsided within moments.

"Hey! Jackass! That friggin' hurt!" He switched to various Veils as he began dodging attacks with more efficiency, the first being the Meteoric Iron Ore Veil to activate one of his skills, **Iron Will. **The second was the **Merciless Reaper** skill from the Hydrosteel Ore Veil. Add those to the skills from the Yellow and Orange Balloon Veils, which were those **Adrenaline **and **Blow of Madness. **Finally, he switched to the Meteoric Iron Veil for one of his attack skills.

"Tell me, Veil! Why do you want to be stronger?!" His attacks kept on, ranging from thrusting attacks to swirling strikes that dealt a lot of damage if they hit. "If you get out of this alive, why will you strive to obtain strength?!"

"Why do I want to get stronger?!" This all took place over the course of about 30 seconds. He was forced to duck, dodge, weave, parry, and do anything he could to possibly stop Tzimisce from dealing that much damage to him again. "At this point, I don't care about the waves! I just want to go home! But more than that, I want to make sure that Naofumi's name is cleared above all else!" He leaped into the air once everything was active, preparing one of his strongest attacks. "Eat this! **Severing Abyss!**"

He dropped back down into the alley, slamming down with a claw that burned with dangerous energy. Tzimisce simply raised his staff, the claw crashing against it and igniting sparks. It didn't take long before the enhanced claw split the staff down the middle, raking the claw against Tzimisce's face and chest.

"Ngh! Damn…" The man stepped back, holding his hand to his left eye. The area now had a somewhat nasty looking gouge travelling from eyebrow to halfway down the cheek. "Lucky shot…" He raised his hand to summon another weapon, but he was stopped by the rifle that was held by another hero.

"Alright, that's enough." Brujah spoke, separating the two. "I'm satisfied now."

"'Satisfied?' What the hell do you mean by that?" Max maintained his position, still in a combat stance.

"The Veil is meant to be one of the most powerful out of the Legacy weapons, as Kind made it to be the leader of the weapons, hence why it was made in the image of the Holy Weapons." Nos finally spoke, moving into view from where he was. "However, the only way that the Veil can be fully awakened is through the power of an outside force and strong resolve."

"A summoned hero and a reason for growing stronger, right?" Max deduced. This caused Nos to nod.

"Right. A Veil Hero is almost always summoned from the world of where a hero has been called. Since there's already a path to that world, it's easier to draw one from it. You're from the world of the current spear hero, right? Though the Legacy Heroes can share their strength with the Holy and Vassal Heroes, it's rare that we actually share our techniques with each other. Most don't trust us, since we mostly feed off of the monsters we kill."

"You mean with the blood, right?" Max looked down at the core in his hand, remembering that there was a section that had to do with how much blood he had stored.

"Right. Most of the weapons don't have anything that they can do with the blood of monsters. We don't have that limitation. Most of our unique abilities run off of blood. But enough exposition. Let's get to the good part." Nos reached down towards his feet, touching the core in the grieve on his right leg. A small chunk of meat the size of his fist was produced, glowing with energy. Brujah did the same, and Tzimisce simply produced it from his palm. Ministry did the same with a book he held in his hand. "We've got a few things you might need."

"What are those for?" He asked, watching as they handed the pieces to Tzimisce, who molded the chunks of flesh into a larger one.

"Materials from Wave bosses." Brujah put his rifle on his back. "All of the countries have Waves, so they have individual bosses that you can take on to get materials. Tzimisce fought the one in Shieldfreeden, I fought the one in Zeltoble. Nos helped with the one in Siltvelt. Ministry fought in Siltvelt as well, the main driving force that helped push the monsters back. We imbued these chunks of Wave boss meat with blood from our weapons to give you something from each of us." Tzimisce handed the meat to Max, who looked down at it while the core glowed brightly, waiting to accept the material. Giving a shrug, Max placed the material in the core and watched his HUD light up with text.

**[Attention]**

**Kindred Techniques have been shared. Implementing now… **

**Completed. **

**Conditions Met**

**Queenslayer's Veil  
Equipment Grade- **_Ramshackle  
_**Ability- Restorative Offering:** _Using the power of your regenerative capabilities, you can sacrifice some of your health to grant it to your allies.  
_**Rank Up:** _Using the power of nothing more than your own determination, force the Veil to evolve itself to face the situation at hand. Any configuration unlocked has its power multiplied to some degree, upgrading to a more advanced version of itself._

**Combat Techniques Unlocked  
Holster (Ministry)  
Flash Step (Nosferatu)  
Sleight of Hand (Tzimisce)  
Weapon Form Manifest (Brujah)**

Looking at the various messages that popped up on his screen, Max blinked in surprise. Combat techniques? Since when were those a thing?

"That should be enough for now. We'll give you more when you can handle it, and when you've mastered what you've got." This was the one with the book. Ministry, if he remembered correctly.

"Hand on a sec… some of what you ended up giving me really doesn't line up with what you have. Shouldn't Brujah have **Holster** and Tzimisce with **Weapon Form Manifest**?" Max looked at his HUD after reading over the things he just got.

"I think that was meant for us to work together. The creator of these things decided it'd be a good idea to swap combat techniques around to make sure we can share our shit and be even stronger." Brujah shrugged, his hand tracing the trigger guard of his rifle. Within moments, it shrunk down to the size of a handgun in the form of a flintlock pistol, which was attached to his side and hidden under his jacket.

"Guess that makes sense…anyways, if I'm gonna get stronger, I have to figure out what happened from the other heroes." Max stood, switching to the Meteoric Iron Ore Veil in Hound configuration and putting the jacket on as normal. "Chances are everybody has a different story, so I need to cover all of my bases. Thanks for everything, guys."

"One more thing, Veil." Nos spoke once more, leaning against the wall. "Toreador and I are going to be watching over you for the time being. Myself so that you don't end up dead, and so that if anything happens, I can relay information to the others. It's one of my skills." He pointed at Toreador. "She's gonna make sure you don't frenzy."

"Frenzy?"

"You'll understand later. Just try not to exhaust the reserves of blood in the Veil, and there won't be an issue." Tzimisce nursed his wounded eye and face with a sealing of flesh through his powers, leaving a crack shaped scar over his left eye. "Now get outta here, kid. Go get stronger."

Max took a single look around, then gave a nod in response.

"I will. I won't let you guys down."

With that, Max dashed off into the night, leaving the Legacy wielders to simply look behind him and watch as he left.

"He's a good kid." One of the masked figures hummed in thought as he pulled down his hood and mask, revealing pitch black skin and bright green eyes. "Let's hope he lives up to the legacy of the last one."

"One can only hope… right, Boss?" Brujah turned to him while raising an eyebrow.

"Right. Nos, you know what to do. Bring him in."

"Got it."

* * *

**And that's all she wrote, ladies and gents! How did you guys like the introduction to the Legacy wielders? Some of you might recognize the callsigns that were being used. If you do, let me know in the reviews!**

**Also, let's give a big round of applause for the first Omake, which was inspired by one of the users from the Shield Hero Discord server. Check it out if you get the chance.**

* * *

**Omake 1- Not how this works**  
_(A huge thanks to GamerTriton13 in the Shield Hero server for coming up with this!)_

The sounds of metallic bootsteps hitting the pavement of Castle Town were loud and very noticeable to most of the citizens that were out and about. Currently, they were chasing some psychopath that decided to jump onto one of the rooftops and run up there for God-Only-Knows what reason. One of them had already cast a debuff spell to slow him down, but he still had the advantage of being as high as he was.

"Well, shit… how do we get him down? We don't have the equipment or any creatures that could get us up there." One guard asked, crossing his arms and staring up at the man that now glared down from behind his mask.

"No worries, I got this." One other guard donned a smug grin, cracking his knuckles after lacing them together.

"Uh, Steve? I don't think that's a good idea-!" One of the others spoke, but his cries were ignored.

_"As source of thy power, I order thee! By my arm, strike true and fly!"_ A mote of energy materialized by him, pulsating violently and with no discernible shape. As his hand closed around it, it manifested as a glowing sword made of pulsating energy. _**"Dreifach Sword… YEET!"**_ Upon saying the last part of the incantation, he drew back the sword and hurled it as if it were no more than a dagger.

It missed its mark spectacularly, sailing and breaking through the window of a nearby house while exploding and nearly blinding the occupants.

"Steve, I told you there was more to magic than that." One of the others groaned and facepalmed, while "Steve" simply grunted in annoyance.

"And I thought I told you to shut the fu-"

"What the hell are you doing?!" A woman wrapped in nothing but a towel peeked her upper half out the window. "I hope you plan on fixing this, or there'll be hell to pay!" Immediately, the guards stiffened and bowed in apology.

"Terribly sorry, Ma'am! We will cover the damages! Please enjoy the rest of your bath!" She drew herself back inside with an audible 'Hmph,' which caused the guards to loosen in terms of tension.

"Haah…. I don't get paid enough for this shit."


End file.
